"Urgh. Finally, land." Bryson said as he walked off the platform and onto the pavement of the landing strip of Ustrin. As Bryson was taking a deep breath enjoying the freedom of no longer being inside a flying airship other students disembarked around him. He was currently in a white button-up and black vest paired with black denim pants and boots.

"Don't take forever, we have stuff to do." Sable said as she began to push Bryson along with one hand as she carried a jacket with the other. She was wearing a casual black and white dress and a wide-brimmed cloche hat that had the Coldwater emblem stitched on it.

"Don't remind me." Bryson grumbled as he looked around through the sea of students, "Where's the rest of our stuff?"

"Do not listen to anything? They're moving everything directly to our rooms."

"You mean my room and everything into your own house that our parents rented for you. I even have a roommate." Bryson corrected.

"Are you that jealous that I get my own personal place?"

"You think you wouldn't if the roles were reversed?"

"But they aren't." Sable taunted as she tossed him his jacket.

Bryson glared at his sister as an announcement from the loudspeakers called out: Hello new students, welcome to The Academy. Please, at noon come to the main entrance of the school. An assembly area outside will be set up to welcome you all. After the speeches lunch will be provided.

"What's the time now?" Bryson asked as he unfurled the jacket. You get to wear a hat to block the sun while I have to wear all of this. Mother really didn't think this through. Bryson complained inwardly. He was tempted to be vocal with his complaints but he knew that it would only be more fuel for his sister.

"Ten-thirty." Sable said after checking her Communicator, "I think we are allowed to explore the place."

"Why? We'll be shown it later."

"It's a big place, we won't be able to see everything."

"Do we have to?"

"No."

"Then I would rather not."

"Suit yourself." Sable said shrugging, "I wonder how the training grounds here compare to the ones back home."

Sable and Bryson then parted ways as Bryson went over to where the welcoming speech should be located. As he strode through he donned his jacket and the ever-intimidating Coldwater emblem was revealed across his heart and shoulders.

It seemed like magic when he put on the piece of clothing, those who passed him and paid him no mind now froze and backed away from him. The very knowledge that he was Coldwater caused a physical aversion to him and many began to try their best to avoid eye contact.

Bryson found all this both amusing and surprising, he wasn't even using any minor illusion to big himself up. He had similar experiences back in Wrabuth, but this was on a much larger scale. At least he wouldn't need to worry about crafting a persona. Cracking his neck and giving his shoulders a quick stretch he then proceeded to stride forward with an air of confidence that added to his intimidation.

As Bryson parted the sea of other students the entrance ceremony was still being set up. The students that had volunteered to help work on it had been going for a few hours now and some took a break for food.

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One of the volunteers, a petite girl with lovely curly auburn-coloured hair already in her school uniform excitedly grabbed her breakfast sandwich and milk provided by the academy from the refreshments table. Finding herself a quiet spot to sit she bit into the sandwich and let the flavours flood her taste buds.

The fresh scrambled eggs, seasoned well with salt and a touch of black pepper practically melted on her tongue with the help of the crème fraîche mixed into it. The ham was crisp and smoky which paired well with the strong cheese. Adding an extra layer of indulgence was the yellow sauce with bits of green onion that she couldn't even name and it was all contained in a lovely, flaky pastry.

Enjoying the mouthful of bliss she washed it down with a gulp of fresh, cold, full-fat milk. Such luxuries were rare for her, in fact things like the pastry and sauce were things she had never tried before. If all the food here was going to be of this quality then being here for that was worth it on its own.

But before she could enjoy her second bite of her meal, her mood immediately dampened when she saw half a dozen familiar faces approach her. They were nobles of lower standing and often looked down upon by the others which meant they needed an outlet for their anger.

An outlet that Anna Cherrywood, a student here on a scholarship program, was a perfect victim for. Coming from a small backwater village she was born with an extraordinary pool of mana. A smart girl and extremely determined she was able to work hard and get herself into The Academy. Even getting into the prestigious U class, which unfortunately meant that she got the wrong kind of attention from those around her.

"Hey there charity case." The lead noble taunted, Anna honestly had no idea what his name even was, she wasn't worth the effort of introduction apparently.

"Please leave me alone, I'm helping set up the area." Anna mumbled as she shrank back a little.

"You say that yet you're sitting around pigging out while everyone else is working." Another noble, a nasty-looking girl said.

"I'm on break, they let me." Anna said her grip tightening on the bottle.

"This food is wasted on you." Another one said as they snatched the sandwich from her hands.

"Give it back!"

"Or what?" They leered at her.

Anna faltered as she sat there helplessly. In all honesty, she likely could take on at least some of them at the same time and win. She was allowed into the U class for a reason, but the issue was that she had never actually been in a fight before. Besides that starting a fight with people who had families in positions of power was not exactly the wisest decision.

Sure, perhaps they couldn't do much about it here if they couldn't overpower her, but they didn't need to. Their parents were nobles, not powerful ones, but they had enough money and influence to deal with a small village that people really didn't know about. So instead all Anna could do with was to sit there and take it.

The sandwich is so good though. She thought dejectedly as she watched as the noble looked at the sandwich, gave it an uninterested sniff and tossed it behind. Anna's eyes trailed with the arc that the sandwich flew only to widen in horror as she saw where it landed.

As Bryson was walking by he was momentarily distracted by the loud conversation near him. Turning his head to look over he didn't see the flying breakfast sandwich that landed directly on his head. Immediately whipping his head over, he clocked who threw the thing via their expression alone.

The noble boy froze in place as his eyes widened as he recognized the crest on Bryson's now stained jacket, "I-I-I, it's not-" He stammered out as Bryson glared at him with the look of someone ready to kill.

The noble boy didn't have any anytime to say anything else as an unseen force sent him flying into the air and into several chairs already set up for the orientation. Anna stared at the now-unconscious student in awe. She recognized the spell, a simple telekinesis-based spell, but it was done so fast and efficiently the student had no time to react.

"What is going on here?" A teacher said moving over after noticing the commotion, "What happened to him?" He asked once he saw the student buried in chairs.

"No idea." Bryson said as he took a quick look over to the others as if challenging them to speak up. The nobles doing the smart thing played dumb and quickly dispersed as the teacher now focused their attention on cleaning up the mess.

Bryson seeing that the attention was now no longer on him, strode forward and past Anna paying her no mind. As he did though he performed another spell that astonished her, with light tap on his shoulder the mess from the food that fell on him disappeared. It was a spell that Anna knew, but she didn't think that any noble would bother with a cleaning spell like that.

As Anna sat back down she stared at her milk, happy that she was able to avoid the worst of the altercation with those nobles, but still upset that her breakfast was now gone. Still she was also wondering about that other noble boy, the others sure were intimidated by him.

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